Art of cooling and dispensing beverages



' ART OF COOLING AND-DISPENSING BEVERAGES Filed March 18, 1950 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTORS. JOSEPH BERKOWITZ WILLIAM LAPIN ATTORNEYS June1952 J. BERKOWITZ ET AL 2,598,751

ART OF COOLING AND DISPENSING BEVERAGES Filed March 18, 1950 I 2SHEETSSHEET 2 Thermostat Switch %ompressor- 60 T Condensing Umt 32 k LINVENTORS. JOSEPH BERKOWITZ By WILLIAM LAPIN WWW ATTORNEYS Patented June3, 1952 ART OF COOLING AND DISPENSING BEVERAGES Joseph Berkowitz,Philadelphia, Pa and William Lapin, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 18, 1950, Serial No. 150,498

3 Claims. (Cl. 62-141) The present invention relates to the art ofcooling and dispensing beverages, and has particular reference to beercooling and dispensing apparatus.

The apparatus of the invention in its essential details consists of ahermetically sealed tank, a liquid line from a compressor-condensingunit connected to said tank, an expansion valve near the juncture ofsaid liquid line and tank, a hermetically sealed conduit also connectedto said tank, a suction or return line from said conduit to saidcompressor-condensing unit, a beverage line encased by said conduit andextending into said tank, the free end of said beverage line extendingthrough a wail of said tank, and being provided with a dispensing tap.The tank is preferably encased in a dispensing unit or cabinet ofdesired construction and design, and the source of beverage, e. g.barrels or kegs, may advantageously be housed in a storage chamber ofthe walk-in type, which is preferably cooled as by means of a diffuseror other refrigerating device.

In the presently-preferred embodiment, there are provided a plurality ofbeverage lines encased by the conduit and extending into the tank. Thefree ends of each of said beverage lines are formed into coils, theouter ends thereof extending through a wall of the tank and beingprovided with dispensing taps.

Brief reference will now be made to the drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the presentlypreferred embodiment,partly broken away to reveal details of construction;

Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of the essential elements of theapparatus, omitting the cabinet and showing the flow of refrigerant andbeverage; and

Figure 3 is a cross-section through the conduit taken substantially online 33 of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1 in greater detail, it will be seen that thenumeral l indicates the dispensing unit generally, that [2 denotes theso-called walk-in" type refrigerated storage room for the barrels orkegs of beer B, B, B" and B', and that I4 denotes the interconnectingconduit which encases the beer lines. The storage room, which consistsessentially of an insulated chamber l6 having a-suitable access door l8,may be located in a convenient part of the taproom or in the basement ofthe building. The room is advantageously and preferably cooled by meansof a cold air diffuser 20. The specific structure of the diffuser doesnot constitute an essential part of the invention. The difluser is shownconnected 2 r by means of pipes 22 to a-refrigerant liqueiler 24, whichcomprises a suitable form of compressorcondensing unit, and may beprovided with arefrigeration or expansion coil, an expansion valve. afan and motor (not shown). 1

The storage room is shown as containing four barrels or kegs of beerdenoted by the letters B, B, B" and B'. The barrels B, B'and B" areconnected by means of beer lines 26, 28 and 20 respectively to thedispensing unit I0,- as will hereinafter be described. These barrels arealso connected to a compressed air line 32 by means of pipes 34. Thecompressed air is supplied by a suitable compressor 36 outside thestorage room. Barrel 3'' is a spare and is shown unconnected.

The beer lines 26, 26 and 30 are encased for the major portion of theirlengths by the conduit 14. As shown in Figure 3, the conduit consists ofa metal jacket 38, surrounded by a thick wall of suitable insulatingmaterial 40. The space 42 within the jacket serves as a return line forthe refrigerant, as will later be described. The lower end of theconduit terminates within the walk in storage room, and the upper endterminates within the dispensing unit 10. The pipe 36 is. secured, as bywelding, to one end of a hermeti cally sealed tank or distributor 44,which as shown in Figure 1, extends substantially the 'entire width ofthe dispensing unit in the upper portion thereof.

The beer lines 26, 28 and 30 extend into the tank or distributor 44, asshown in Figure 2, wherein they terminate in coils 46, 48 andrespectively, said coils being spaced longitudinally of the tank ordistributor. The outer end of each of the coils is brought out of thetank through a bushing 52, the three bushings being substantiallyequally spaced along the width of the tank. Beer taps or faucets 54, 66and 58 are secured to the ends of the coils 46, 48 and 50. A fourth tap59, shown in Figure 1, may be provided for ice water or other beverage.

The reference numeral 60 denotes a second refrigerant liquefier, whichcomprises a compressor-' condensing unit of any desired construction.The liqueiier is connected by means of the liquid or compression line 62to the end of the tank or distributor 44 opposite to the conduit or ductI4, and by means of the suction or return line 64 to the lower end 65 ofthe conduit or duct 14. It is to be noted that the end 65 of the conduitis hermetically sealed as is the upper end. An adjustable expansionvalve 66 is shown connected to the iiluici line 62 where it enters thetank or distribumund th plied to the compressor-condensing unit by meansand 10. A thermostatic control 12 is provided in the line 68, saidcontrol having its temperature sensitive or feeler bulb 14 on the end ofa capillary tube 16inserted in a well 18 in As shown in Figure 2,electric current is supthe tank 44' in the vicinity of the compression 7line 62. controlqperates to open the-circuit to the compressor-condensing unit when thetemperature in the tank fails a predeterminedamount, and to close the circuit when the tem perature rises.

It will be understood I, the compressor-condensing unit is closed, theunit operates to liquefy a refrigerant, preferably that wherithe"circuit it ll;

2,598,761: i k 'r V exemplifying the invention, and no unnecessarynec'ting said conduit to said unit, ran-expansion valve connected to theliquid line near its juncture with the tank, a beverage line encased insaid conduitand extending into said tank, the free end of said beverageline extending through a wall of said tank and being provided with adispensin Freon, and to force the liquefied refrigerant through line 62and expansion valve 66 :into the tank or distributor 44., The tank actsasan "expansion chamber where the refrigerant expands into a vapor,absorbing heat, and returning reiri erat oncycl ,It \will z t i-iu theund rs ood that the beer in the barrels in the storage-chamberfl isprecpoled toa-temneratured n ndinszuppn hat i i dilr-ll iqlllated by thedifiuser n, that-the beer in the three barrelsconnected .to the beerlines 26,

2B and, 3ilfisrfprcedby the pressure of the airline ai -upwardly through93 id =beer lines into ,the coils ff B'anQ-{Uandtmthe taps .54, sa ness,,ltis tdabendted that the flow of beer throngh the conan and theitankdkis oppositetothat of .the retrigerantrand'thatthefrefrigerantentirely sure beenlines within the conduit and-tank;

also-t ,7 r a mg ,ten peraturecin :the co l ;fi. 1 5am t raturedepending upon the adjustment of therflxpansion valve 55.

The apparatus] f thei, inv ention iulfills all .the mandamus 'b ve'ragecooling andkdis pensin'gappamusand in addition issubstantially-treeofl'the disadvantages usually associated vi hsuchapparatus. It isof considerably iin provedland simplified construction{can be :installed much more readily and less expensively thangotherdevices of th ej'same kind, and requires considerably less attention,maintenance and servicing: a I v The beer is'cooled gradually asit-approaches the. dispensing taps, thereby preventing'sh'ockingiscqlorationof the beer. Nevertheless, the beer cooledwith-exoeedingjrapidity, as canbe seen romithe fact that cold'bee'rgenerally starts r g in 'lessthan a minute after: a' barrel is can 'ctedfiq'a beerline. r

T e app ratusi part u'la y flexible .irikqp' ration it ca n"be set -to,dispensje beverage at a ,desir d ltmperatuize, and itlis possible todraw as f6. orfasmany glasses at exacltlyth'e-set temperatf. maybedesired. The fact that the beverage lines are hermetically sealedresults in a close control iofithe "temperatf lirom'thelbarreltolthelass. ,Hencafthe lie fr fiipe atu i unaffected by outside condithe beeris :finally cooled to :thefiispenstap, anda therrno'static control forsaid compressdr-cbndensing unit, said control being provided withatemperature sensitive bulb in said tank in the vicinity of the liquidline.

-2; Incombination with a dispensing cabinet, a beverage storage room anda compressor-con- 'densing :'unit of a "beverage. cooling and dispensingapparatus, :a hermetically sealed daank 'enclo'sed within said .cabinet'and extending Jfthe width thereof, a hermetically sealed conduitconnecting said tank with said storageroom, 1a iliduid line connecting*s'aidflcompressorecondensing 'unit to said tank, a return lineconnecting .said conduit to said unit, and .at least one ibeverage lineextending vfrom said storage room through Esaid conduit and into saidtank, the free .end for said beverage line extending through awa'llofissaid tank and through :a wall .ofsaidcabinet; and being providedwith a dispensin tap,

3. In combination with a dispensing cabinet, -a beverage storage roomand a compressoncnnclensing unit in 1a bevera e flcooling and dispensingapparatus, a hermetically z-sealed tank en-r ed wi hin said 'Fca'binetandp xtendin the width thereof, a hermetically scaledicondu-itconnecting said tank with said storage-room; a-l-iquid lineconnecting said compressor-condensing unit to said tank, a return lineconnecting-said conduit to said uni-tat least one beverage lineextending from saidstorage room through said conduit and into said tank,the-free end of said beverage line extending through -a ;wall of saidtank and through a wall of said cabinet, and bein provided with adispensing tap,,an expansion valve connected to the liquid linefnearlits -j;u;ncturewi-th the tank, and a IthermQStaticcontrol for saidcompressor-condensing, unitsaid con:

trol being provided with a temperature sensitive bulb in said tank inthe vicinity of the liquid line.

JOSERH ;BEB K0 WITZ. WILLIAM LAPIN. 7

REFERENCES ci'riin' The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

Kramer Oct. 25, 11949

